The Philadelphia 76ers suffered their 24th straight loss as Joakim Noah finished with 20 points, while Jimmy Butler scored 17 in the Chicago Bulls’ 91-81 victory on Saturday.
The Sixers moved ahead of the Vancouver Grizzlies (1995-1996), Denver Nuggets (1997-1998) and Charlotte Bobcats (2011-2012) for the second-longest, single-season losing streak.
The Cleveland Cavaliers dropped 26 during the 2010-2011 season, and Philadelphia would have to pull off an upset to avoid equaling that.
The next two games are at San Antonio and Houston. Drop them, and the Sixers could set the record at home against Detroit on March 29, particularly if they continue to shoot like this from the outside.
They missed their first 18 three-pointers before Byron Mullens made one early in the fourth and were one of 20 in the game.
PELICANS 105, HEAT 95
In New Orleans, Anthony Davis had 30 points, 11 rebounds and three steals as New Orleans handed struggling Miami their seventh loss in 11 games.
LeBron James twisted his right ankle while stepping on Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans’ foot during a drive to the hoop late in the third quarter, but remained in the game and finished with 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. It was not enough for Miami, who gave guard Dwyane Wade and center Greg Oden the night off following Friday’s victory at Memphis.
Pelicans guard Eric Gordon also sat out with a sore left knee, but New Orleans got 14 points from Evans, 12 from Al-Farouq Aminu and 11 from Luke Babbitt.
GRIZZLIES 82, PACERS 71
In Memphis, Tennessee, Mike Conley scored 21 points, while Zach Randolph added 18 points and 13 rebounds as Memphis held Indiana to their lowest point total of the season.
Mike Miller added 13 points as Memphis won for the seventh time in nine games and maintained their hold on the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Marc Gasol, returning after spraining his ankle on Friday night, had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Lance Stephenson led the Pacers with 15 points and eight rebounds, while David West added 10 points, but was five of 15 from the field.
Paul George, the Pacers’ leading scorer at 22.1 points per game, was held to eight points, missing eight of his 10 shots, and Indiana shot 37 percent for the game.
ROCKETS 118, CAVALIERS 111
In Cleveland, James Harden scored 37 points, including 17 in the third quarter as Houston led from wire-to-wire in a victory over Cleveland.
Harden was nine of 15 from the field, hit five three-pointers, made all 14 of his free throws and had 11 assists without playing the fourth quarter after Houston built a 29-point lead late in the third.
Rockets center Dwight Howard missed his third straight game with a sore left ankle, but Houston are undefeated in the eight-time All-Star’s absence.
Cleveland have lost four straight and played again without point guard Kyrie Irving, who has been sidelined for three games with a strained left biceps.
Dion Waiters led Cleveland with 26 points. Tyler Zeller added a career-high 23 points for the Cavaliers, who also played without forward Luol Deng (sprained left ankle).
BOBCATS 124, TRAIL BLAZERS 94
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Al Jefferson scored 28 points and two others finished with more than 20 as Charlotte routed Portland.
Kemba Walker added 26 points, Gerald Henderson had 23 and Chris Douglas-Roberts 11 for the Bobcats, who finished with their highest-scoring game and most-lopsided victory in snapping a two-game losing streak.
Damian Lillard scored 20 points, Dorell Wright added 17 and Wesley Matthews 15 for the Trail Blazers, who trailed by as many as 34 points late in the second half in their worst loss this season.
Charlotte shot 52 percent from the field (49 of 94), outscored Portland in the paint 54-32 and held a 50-36 rebounding advantage over the Trail Blazers, who had won their past four games against the Bobcats.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Clippers 112, Pistons 103
‧ Spurs 99, Warriors 90
‧ Jazz 89, Magic 88
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but